I’m 77 years old, but I’ve never had to decide about abortion on a personal level. How another woman decides is not my business nor the Courts. Abortion is a personal decision, and I support Pro Choice. I’ll be voting Blue n Texas.
I'll be in my 70s for two more weeks and have always been pro choice. The room gets very crowded when "pro life" joins the conversation between a woman and her doctor. I will be voting blue.
I am also in my seventies and agree with you. As a young voter I fought and marched for abortion rights and personal choice. Medical decisions like this have no place being mandated by law. While it may be an important issue it is not the only issue that concerns them. I believe many of todays young voters are not happy with either candidate and may choose to vote 3rd party or sit out. That is why I became a trained volunteer presenter for Energizing Young Voters, developed by a member of the League of Women Voters. Check it out if you are an educator or interested in motivating and teaching our younger citizens the importance of their vote. https://energizingyoungvoters.com We need those 8 million voters to realize they have the power to save our democracy and their future.
Thank you, Teela! I just sent my name to Energizing Young Voters. I didn't know about it until I read your post. I look forward to following in your footsteps!
Any vote for a third party candidate at this point will be a vote for Trump. I was there when so many young voters voted for Ralf Nader in 1999 causing the vote between Gore and Bush to be a razor thin line and then there was the recount debacle that was stopped in Florida before it was finished in a state where Jeb Bush was governor. If Ralf Nader had not been in the running Gore would have had an overwhelming turn out besides winning the popular vote. Iraq would not have been invaded causing thousand of young Americans to die so that the few in power could further their wealth based on weak bogus “intelligence.” I fear the same could happen again with RFK Jr. and people should be more critical of him running as an I dependent just as they should have with Nader. Nader changed the world. The world stage that it. Terror organizations cropped up throughout the Middle East when Sudan was taken down.
Absolutely, Bill. And these are the women you are hearing about...there are more of us out there! Join in! We need men out there talking to young men...they will be effected by this issue in the future as well.
The youth of our country need to realize they have the power to choose how they want to live their lives, and those who will speak for them in government.
I’m 79 and have a different experience. At 9weeks pregnant, I had a messy miscarriage. But despite knowing the fetus was gone, enough tissue remained to make all tests say I was still pregnant. No doctor would treat me with a D&C because they would have lost their license if anyone found out. So I just bled until I developed a life threatening infection. Then my doctor could treat me because my life was endangered. Not all abortions are performed as elective surgery. But from the day I was told the doctor couldn’t help me I became an avid supporter of choice.
My brother, the oldest and a Vietnam vet is in Texas and I lost him over trump years ago. It has nothing to do with him being in Texas but try explaining that to some extreme progressives who want a redo of the civil war. It’s like talking to a brick wall.
Abortion was not legalized until I was in college. Can't tell you how relieved I was to have that option, though I was lucky to never have to use it. We've taken body autonomy for granted, as well we should. Men have no one trying to control their health or reproductive freedom - women have always been in that situation. The anger is palpable. I hope it drives people to the polls, but it is not the only issue. It's not just women's healthcare on the line.
I hope and pretty much believe that you are right. Women are angry about how the GOP is trying to control their bodies while at the same time legitimizing men abusing women by at a minimum raising Trump to the level of an idol. And all the while doing nothing to see that there are any consequences for the men who get women pregnant with an unwanted pregnancy. And with no plan for what to do with these unwanted children....Republicans are not standing in line to become foster/adoptive parents. I sure hope women of all ages are very very angry and will take that anger to the polls. It is not at all far fetched to fear that the GOP will ban all methods of birth control and make it illegal for a wife to refuse to have se with her husband. In the long run that might also backfire on them big time since women no longer need men for a meal ticket. And it is not just abortion, but as you say all of women's health. I hope the anger about reproductive rights is just the beginning and women will continue to fight for health care that recognizes their issues, often that come with menopause, and that the medical community will no longer just blow them off when they talk about the vague but serious physical/medical concerns they have. I hope all women are tired of being told you're just old or you need to see a therapist, you are depressed, everyone is tired. If a man went to a doctor with the symptoms that women often have no doctor would ever say that to them.
Wouldn't it be just SO RICH if 165 million women were to all move into the guest room en-masse until their spouses and boyfriends wake up and decide to vote yes on women's reproductive liberty? What incredible leverage they have if they're willing to use it!
Yes, there's that. Or, for a more assertive alternative, the men who caused unwanted pregnancies could be castrated.. I think people are reluctant to say that aloud...
I said for years that men who commit sex crimes should be castrated even if in jail. Seems only fair but of course they won't even get their male dogs fixed!!!!!
Was just about to say the same thing. The sad reality is that women shouldn't have to withhold sex in order to have their rights respected. After all, most women enjoy sex too. I know it's an allegory, but even the thought of it makes me so angry.
Men - we need you to be our allies. If any of your rights were taken away from you, women would likely support your cause. We need your vote if you care about the health and autonomy of women.
So-called “conservatives” are hosting white nationalists and “alt right” blabbers who keep pushing the idea that women shouldn’t be voting & wouldn’t in a ‘Christian’ nation. Too much power in the hands of women has upset the natural order. 🙄
And we need to work really hard to keep the power we have and use our power to vote. It also seems to me that men need to realize they need healthy women to be in the work force and the MAGA /GOP folks are just too narrow minded to understand what this means....good health care and good educational opportunities for women. At this time very few families get by on one income and I'm not sure how the GOP thinks keeping women barefoot and pregnant and out of the work force is going to impact that, especially if the families have to pay a lot for the medical care if anything goes wrong.
Yes, on the one hand lots of talk about wanting people to have children while the other hand is busily making life more difficult for households and families who are not wealthy. No different than talks of freedom and the Constitution while proposing & trying to limit who may access those rights.
Well said! And then there's the talk of doing away with child labor laws and you combine that with the idea that women (at least white women according to Mike Johnson) need to be staying home having babies, then they can get those babies in the work force soon. BUT it seems to me that more and more nations need a well educated work force so I'm not sure where that would put the US.
Not just talk. State legislatures started on that project a few yrs ago. They tend to focus on gaps in federal labor laws that states filled to some degree. As the KY legislature winds down it is not clear if the bill will pass this year. After the House passed it the Senate added a floor amendment. The sponsor (no surprise) has a lawn care business. The loosening of daily hours, total hours and types of jobs for minors to work goes hand in hand with the philosophy that it should be more difficult for households to receive SNAP benefits by including 16 y/o - 18 y/o among those who should be seeking employment. https://www.billtrack50.com/blog/the-persistent-issue-of-child-labor-in-2024/
HB 500 was recommitted and so will be very difficult to pass this session. Although they could revive both these bills during days set aside to override Governor Vetoes - which means it would be too late for the governor to veto them. Besides there is a veto proof legislature.
- Pastor Joel Webbon who says things like “Because if we had a Christian nation tomorrow, and women did have the right to vote, we would not have a Christian nation within 50 years.” He further explains “Uh, because the husband has been appointed by God the head of his home. And no-fault divorce, and women suffrage, more than anything else, ultimately split the household.”
- Mark Robinson, Lt. Governor of NC. He is the GOP gubernatorial candidate. While running for Lt Gov he said in 2020: “I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote.”
- We could add Nick Fuentes who dined at Mar a Lago not long after the 2020 election. Shortly before that he had streamed his plan for a christian America, getting DJT in the WH “somehow” dissolving Congress, using the military to control the majority who don’t want to comply. A key component he described was lwomen marrying early, no contraception, no education & no voting - “a sort of Catholic taliban” situation.
And now I have other things to do more interesting perhaps more important that betting aside your non-denial denials of the real world.
I'm not sure what you mean about "non-denial denials of the real world".
These are interesting examples, but not representative in my experience. Most people I know who consider themselves Christians fully support women's rights, as it aligns with dignity and family values. You can always find a few outliers though.
Do you personally know a lot of people who actually support those
(anti women) views like the examples you provided?
According to this article, see link below, there are many, many couples waiting to adopt (estimated 2 Million couples). As many as 36 for each child up for adoption!
How did you know that none of the 2 Million couples were Republicans???
Most men, like most women, like most people want to do the right thing. They take matters of life and death seriously. The state does not have the right to make personal decisions. We've leaned over backward to accommodate the right-wing/Trump/MAGA and it's past time to stop.
To that I will partially agree, Biden is the man in power now and he is entirely pro-choice. I am not so much pro-choice as against interference in a purely medical procedure. I will agree that assholes like DeSantis, Trump and those Republican Legislators and Governors writing and approving anti abortion laws are ignoramuses, women haters, power mongers, and plain bad people
Bad and cruel. Cruelty reigns in MAGA world and that is the point. They are vindictive. The fact that they mask their vindictive hatefulness in the cloth of Christianity sickens me.
Most of the people getting in the way are Conservative Christians whose goal it is to control women. Period. That's what they think the Bible says but, it doesn't, and it's a choice based on the little weasels wanting all the power for themselves. By that, I mean cisgender (at least, that's what they would have us believe) white men. No one should control another person's access to healthcare or make healthcare decisions for them. We know it's not just abortion since many of these people would also like to abolish birth control. The only way to change things is to vote them out of power. And, of course, you're correct about the Biden administration, in general, and Biden, personally. He objects to abortion for religious and personal reasons, but will not interfere in the decisions women make about their own healthcare. As it should be.
Election day will determine the fate of America for at least one full generation. Right now America is at a the junction of two paths in a dark forest. A choice will be made in November. This is certain. I am certain Trump is finished. He is aging, has dementia, offers nothing but negativity in a country built on a positive and hopeful philosophy. His time is short. The Republican Party is the present day cancer in America. It must be chastised deeply at the polls. The world is deeply uncertain about America's resolve to remain a trustworthy ally. Putin is far too confident, as is Iran, North Korea and China. This must change soon.
Hopefully this will turn our congress blue and keep biden in office. If the young people in my family are like others, then abortion is a big deal to them and they plan to vote accordingly
I’m going to have to pause and come back to this… it’s elevating my blood pressure. I’m very hopeful that this issue will indeed continue to work for progressives. I’ll absolutely be voting pro choice in Missouri. 💙
It must be hard to be in a Red State just now. Missouri is a beautiful state and to see it taken over by haters must be so hard. If you ever need encouragement, please check out Seniors Taking Action.org. We would welcome you.
You're right, Susan. Here in Cleveland, I live in a blue bubble, surrounded by miles of rural redness. I signed a petition against Arctic drilling, and it went to both senators. Vance responded to assure me that he will ALWAYS vote for more drilling, because it's the best thing for the country(!). Such stupidity is just depressing.
As for reproductive choice, our governor had signed a six-week abortion ban (which was temporarily stayed), and our secretary of state tried to prevent a referendum from getting onto the ballot. When he failed, he had the ballot language written so as to be confusing. The GOP ran ads painting abortion as somehow taking away parental rights. Well...surprise! The right to choose passed, two to one, and is now part of our state constitution.
All this to say that there's hope, even in red states, no matter how backward and, well, ignorant, the MEN in charge are
I don’t know about the rest of you but I am really tired of a bunch of old men with white/orange hair deciding what we can do with our bodies. It is none of their business!! They call themselves pro life but they are quite happy to let someone with mental health issues own a gun. And while I’m at it, I don’t notice any of them stepping up to provide funding for the healthcare for these women or their children. Nor do I hear them offering to adopt the babies. The whole thing disgusts me. VOTE BLUE!!
They also know very little about women's reproductive systems and health. It should NOT be up to politicians to make the decisions about women's bodies and lives.
I submit that this will be the defining issue in this election all across the country. How about each of us helping to organize a March To Protect Reproductive Rights to and in every State Capital city ON LABOR DAY! The symbolism of that day would be dynamic. Ask your local PP and other reproductive rights organizations to organize it? What do you think?
Personally I’d prefer the time, effort and money go to registering voters and get out the vote projects - a much more strategic use of resources and people.
You could have tables and booths set up to help register voters along the march. Rest stops, with cold water, hot coffee, and voting rights groups. Informing and helping others, the way that I find works best.
There is no "perfect statement" on abortion. It is a difficult and messy choice. Trump and Co. don't understand nuance, but they do understand advertising and sound bites. Abortion is not a soundbite. It is a painful, difficult, and often responsible and reasonable choice. Extremists do not understand this but women and men do. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
Another way to describe the entire situation— Be careful what you wish for— lest it come true. Let’s not also forget, 45th is a pathological liar. He will say and do anything to get elected and get rid of his legal troubles.
He has no interest in improving the lives of the American people.
He was also to bring a first class health care system- very inexpensive. What happened?
He was to build a wall, too- what happened? Journalists should ask him these questions. He is just good at dividing people and creating ruckus.
He is a despicable human being and were he not a useful idiot he would have been dumped by his sponsors a long time ago. I'm fed up with being bullied. Women and men who don't want to be bullied need to stand up and fight. This is wrong and we need to right it.
randomly determined; having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
Origin
mid 17th century: from Greek stokhastikos, from stokhazesthai ‘aim at, guess’, from stokhos ‘aim’.
The Orange Cow-pie has popularized a new usage of the term; stochastic bullying. He has fostered an atmosphere where individuals whom he has never met are now frankly fearful of becoming individually associated with their legitimate but contrasting opinion on issues like reproductive liberty because one of his minions might be able to track them down for harrassment or worse, merely from their blog byline and the subject matter. It harkens back to East Germany, where EVERYONE was a spy for the regime. It creates an atmosphere of constant dread and great caution about how or whether one should speak out at all.
I think you make a great point here, Just Sayin'. I was just on another forum where someone kept maintaining, against all arguments, that there's no urgent reason jurors' names should be withheld from TFG (as Judge Merchan has threatened), because the chances that the orange menace or his minions would actually go after anyone are zero. Nah, they'd never hurt anybody.
Meanwhile, as you say, many of us guard what we say where we can be overheard, just in case.
Excellent commentary Dan. I think that your last paragraph is the most important one - it is not just an abortion/anti-abortion issue, but a woman's right of choice/anti-choice that is at stake here. When a woman loses the right to make a decision about an outcome based on what is happening to her own body, with or without input from family and medical practitioners, then what is her status as a full blown citizen of this country? When a just formed zygote is more important to a living, breathing female, what becomes of that female. These ultra right extreme MAGA Republican lawmakers and judges, mostly males, are making the female population of this nation second class citizens. And their sights are now being set to stop the contraception that almost all women use to prevent pregnancy. This is not to be condoned nor accepted.
Do you honestly think Trump actually cares about abortion one way or the other? I don’t. He’s just using it as an issue to get the far right and Evangelical vote along with his “Bible” ! He’s as low as they come. All this talk is a phoney as they come. His hateful rhetoric about imigrants is pretty rich too when you consider his Trump grandfather, the last name wasn’t exactly Trump either. His Grandfather went AWOL from the German army and came here then tried to go back but he lost his German citizenship because of going AWOL! He went to Alaska when it was a territory and ran Brothels aka Whore Houses. He apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. He is no great Statesman and never will be. He’s unfit for office and it’s pathetic that the Republican Party has stupped so low.
So two Muslim countries are bringing back stoning women and another one is back to mutilation of female genitals. Guess that is the next crusade here in the good USA. Just like the Bible say, beat your slaves as much as you want but make sure then don't die since they are property.
As much as I would like to say, I cannot wait for this whole thing to blow up in their smug Marjorie Taylor Green faces, but, there's that undercurrent, of , well, we all went through it with Hillary and the 2016 results… abortion just might be that catalyst Dems need at the polls in November, but I’m still abit edgy… Dems and voters can be wishywashy and with all that is on the line, there is no place for wishywashy, Biden has to win…and win the house back and keep the Senate!… And Dan, you’ve gotta continue to run this tight , steady ship… we need you too as well… so thankful for your Steadyiness! … 🙏🏼🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🛳️
This is no time for wishy-washy. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a shy child, built herself up by saying, " Do one thing that frightens you every day." We can all do this. For me, it was driving through a rainstorm on a particularly lethal strip of California highway known for collisions, on a rainy Friday afternoon. I focussed on the road ahead and not the accidents on the side of the road and made it home safely. It felt really good.
I am female and, although past reproductive age, I always thought of myself as a full human and a full citizen of this country. Until now. Are women full citizens? Not if the government controls our bodies. Are we full humans? Not if we are considered broodmares, and if a zygote is considered to have more rights that the "vessel" carrying it. I will not have someone else's religious beliefs determine my life.
As a Florida voter to get abortion on the ballot is huge and then add the legalization of recreational marijuana come November this state will not be purple, it will be solid blue. The kids will save this state!
You don't necessarily need to put out a sign but do connect digitally with other like-minded people and groups. There is a digital underground pro-democracy railroad out there to help you. Check out NOVA Power Lunch on Fridays at noon EST to get a helpful shot in the arm. I do and it helps soooo much.
So glad I subscribed to your content, Dan! You explain the issues of the day factually, clearly and succinctly. Good Lord, I've missed good journalism! I sure hope young people are paying attention...
I'm 75, and abortion rights remains one of my top issues because I remember my fear, even when married, of an unplanned pregnancy (and ALL birth-control methods are less than 100% effective) and my inability to be in charge of my own life. I want the sense of relief I felt when in 1973 the Supreme Court decided that abortion is a private decision, not a governmental one, to be permanent for all women of child-bearing age, never mind for a raped 10-year-old child forced to carry the rapist's embryo to term.
It has taken me forty years to share this. Forty years ago January our second child was born on her due date. A beautiful infant who couldn't function and who died twenty-one months and ten days later. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "organic brain syndrome." She could not see, could not hear, cry, feed herself, and had no voluntary movement. She had to have medication to control her seizures. As her very compassionate pediatrician put it, "It was as though she had suffered a stroke in utero." A brain scan later revealed that sometime during gestation, water had filled in where her brain should have been, leaving her only with a healthy body and a brain stem. She died on Halloween, "a holiday favored more greatly by children than Christmas", as a family friend wrote.
Forward forty years to December of 2023. My middle daughter became pregnant with her second child. A second sonogram indicated problems with what had been a normal fetus. Subsequent tests revealed the fetus suffered from Trisomy 18, the same condition Kate Cox's fetus suffered from--a condition incompatible with life. Fortunately, my daughter, who lives in Montana, had the help of a highly skilled and compassionate medical team including a therapist. Working together with my daughter and son-in-law, they decided to terminate the pregnancy. There is a mortuary across from the clinic that handles the remains gratis.
My daughter and her husband scattered the baby's ashes on the beautiful Black Foot River. I tended to my granddaughter on the day of the abortion and the day her parents scattered the ashes of the sibling who could not be. The day after the abortion, the doorbell rang. No handcuffs. No subpoenas. What was delivered instead was the most tender bouquet of tulips and wildflowers I have ever seen. Now that is compassion. That is dignity. That is the way life and death should be.
Had I known before my second daughter was born what she and we, her family, would have to suffer along with her, I would have chosen to abort her. It would have been immoral not to do so.
There is so much of pain and suffering in this world. Instead of alleviating the pain and suffering of the people, we have the Congress living on a different planet, least concerned about people who sent them there.
I can only imagine what you went through, Susan. It hurts to even think about it---too utterly sad for words. Your daughter's experience was also sad, but I see it as a gift that she was spared what you suffered. If anyone can speak with authority on this topic, it's you.
The idea that legislatures know better what’s best for We the People than We the People do is laughable. No, it’s not funny laughable. it’s a serious problem.
One of South Dakota’s state legislators made a specific point ( at a local legislative Cracker Barrel discussion) that we are not a democracy, we are a republic. She, being a Republican, was rather obviously setting the stats for more crazy MAGA mischief.
The first Republican president, when asked what was democracy, replied “a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”
Well, truth be told, we ARE a republic. Or more precisely, a democratic republic. We do vote for representatives (voting = drmocracy), who are supposed to champion the will of those they represent. But our electoral college prevents us from being a straight democracy, where one vote - one person, majority rules would be the way of things. If we were a pure democracy, the elected person would be the one with the most popular votes, NOT the one with the most electoral college vites.
I agree with you totally! We are a democratic republic. Power vested in We the People, We the People elect other citizens to do our business, and they do business for the people. A republic on its own can be something not democratic - or power is not vested in the people. People’s Republic of China for example. No power vested in the people - CCP has the power.
I’m 77 years old, but I’ve never had to decide about abortion on a personal level. How another woman decides is not my business nor the Courts. Abortion is a personal decision, and I support Pro Choice. I’ll be voting Blue n Texas.
Same age and same situation. I agre
Oops! I agree MYOB. Also voting Blue in FL. Would love to dump DeSantis.
I plan to do the same in FL.
I plan on voting for Biden in FL.
Me too!!
Same here in FL.
I'll be in my 70s for two more weeks and have always been pro choice. The room gets very crowded when "pro life" joins the conversation between a woman and her doctor. I will be voting blue.
I am also in my seventies and agree with you. As a young voter I fought and marched for abortion rights and personal choice. Medical decisions like this have no place being mandated by law. While it may be an important issue it is not the only issue that concerns them. I believe many of todays young voters are not happy with either candidate and may choose to vote 3rd party or sit out. That is why I became a trained volunteer presenter for Energizing Young Voters, developed by a member of the League of Women Voters. Check it out if you are an educator or interested in motivating and teaching our younger citizens the importance of their vote. https://energizingyoungvoters.com We need those 8 million voters to realize they have the power to save our democracy and their future.
Thank you, Teela! I just sent my name to Energizing Young Voters. I didn't know about it until I read your post. I look forward to following in your footsteps!
Teela, I totally agree with you and am inspired by your activism! Thanks for letting us know about Energizing Young Voters!
Any vote for a third party candidate at this point will be a vote for Trump. I was there when so many young voters voted for Ralf Nader in 1999 causing the vote between Gore and Bush to be a razor thin line and then there was the recount debacle that was stopped in Florida before it was finished in a state where Jeb Bush was governor. If Ralf Nader had not been in the running Gore would have had an overwhelming turn out besides winning the popular vote. Iraq would not have been invaded causing thousand of young Americans to die so that the few in power could further their wealth based on weak bogus “intelligence.” I fear the same could happen again with RFK Jr. and people should be more critical of him running as an I dependent just as they should have with Nader. Nader changed the world. The world stage that it. Terror organizations cropped up throughout the Middle East when Sudan was taken down.
You ladies are calming me down. Maybe we we win after all.
Absolutely, Bill. And these are the women you are hearing about...there are more of us out there! Join in! We need men out there talking to young men...they will be effected by this issue in the future as well.
The youth of our country need to realize they have the power to choose how they want to live their lives, and those who will speak for them in government.
I’m nearly 80, similar status, and I too, will be voting Democratic all down my ballot in CA.
As wil I and working the polls.
Thank you for working the polls!
Well you’re welcome but honestly I enjoy it and I learn a lot!
Same here, Lisa! Working the polls this year, and getting young folks registered to vote!
I’m 79 and have a different experience. At 9weeks pregnant, I had a messy miscarriage. But despite knowing the fetus was gone, enough tissue remained to make all tests say I was still pregnant. No doctor would treat me with a D&C because they would have lost their license if anyone found out. So I just bled until I developed a life threatening infection. Then my doctor could treat me because my life was endangered. Not all abortions are performed as elective surgery. But from the day I was told the doctor couldn’t help me I became an avid supporter of choice.
I agree. From Georgia.
Same here and agree.
I totally agree with you, Joyce, and others who have commented. thank you, Mr. Rather, for this clear picture of the state of abortion rights.
My brother, the oldest and a Vietnam vet is in Texas and I lost him over trump years ago. It has nothing to do with him being in Texas but try explaining that to some extreme progressives who want a redo of the civil war. It’s like talking to a brick wall.
Well said!
Abortion was not legalized until I was in college. Can't tell you how relieved I was to have that option, though I was lucky to never have to use it. We've taken body autonomy for granted, as well we should. Men have no one trying to control their health or reproductive freedom - women have always been in that situation. The anger is palpable. I hope it drives people to the polls, but it is not the only issue. It's not just women's healthcare on the line.
I hope and pretty much believe that you are right. Women are angry about how the GOP is trying to control their bodies while at the same time legitimizing men abusing women by at a minimum raising Trump to the level of an idol. And all the while doing nothing to see that there are any consequences for the men who get women pregnant with an unwanted pregnancy. And with no plan for what to do with these unwanted children....Republicans are not standing in line to become foster/adoptive parents. I sure hope women of all ages are very very angry and will take that anger to the polls. It is not at all far fetched to fear that the GOP will ban all methods of birth control and make it illegal for a wife to refuse to have se with her husband. In the long run that might also backfire on them big time since women no longer need men for a meal ticket. And it is not just abortion, but as you say all of women's health. I hope the anger about reproductive rights is just the beginning and women will continue to fight for health care that recognizes their issues, often that come with menopause, and that the medical community will no longer just blow them off when they talk about the vague but serious physical/medical concerns they have. I hope all women are tired of being told you're just old or you need to see a therapist, you are depressed, everyone is tired. If a man went to a doctor with the symptoms that women often have no doctor would ever say that to them.
Wouldn't it be just SO RICH if 165 million women were to all move into the guest room en-masse until their spouses and boyfriends wake up and decide to vote yes on women's reproductive liberty? What incredible leverage they have if they're willing to use it!
Yes, there's that. Or, for a more assertive alternative, the men who caused unwanted pregnancies could be castrated.. I think people are reluctant to say that aloud...
I said for years that men who commit sex crimes should be castrated even if in jail. Seems only fair but of course they won't even get their male dogs fixed!!!!!
Lysistrata all over again. It could work.
Was just about to say the same thing. The sad reality is that women shouldn't have to withhold sex in order to have their rights respected. After all, most women enjoy sex too. I know it's an allegory, but even the thought of it makes me so angry.
Men - we need you to be our allies. If any of your rights were taken away from you, women would likely support your cause. We need your vote if you care about the health and autonomy of women.
Very good points. Thank you for saying all of that.
So-called “conservatives” are hosting white nationalists and “alt right” blabbers who keep pushing the idea that women shouldn’t be voting & wouldn’t in a ‘Christian’ nation. Too much power in the hands of women has upset the natural order. 🙄
And we need to work really hard to keep the power we have and use our power to vote. It also seems to me that men need to realize they need healthy women to be in the work force and the MAGA /GOP folks are just too narrow minded to understand what this means....good health care and good educational opportunities for women. At this time very few families get by on one income and I'm not sure how the GOP thinks keeping women barefoot and pregnant and out of the work force is going to impact that, especially if the families have to pay a lot for the medical care if anything goes wrong.
Yes, on the one hand lots of talk about wanting people to have children while the other hand is busily making life more difficult for households and families who are not wealthy. No different than talks of freedom and the Constitution while proposing & trying to limit who may access those rights.
Well said! And then there's the talk of doing away with child labor laws and you combine that with the idea that women (at least white women according to Mike Johnson) need to be staying home having babies, then they can get those babies in the work force soon. BUT it seems to me that more and more nations need a well educated work force so I'm not sure where that would put the US.
Not just talk. State legislatures started on that project a few yrs ago. They tend to focus on gaps in federal labor laws that states filled to some degree. As the KY legislature winds down it is not clear if the bill will pass this year. After the House passed it the Senate added a floor amendment. The sponsor (no surprise) has a lawn care business. The loosening of daily hours, total hours and types of jobs for minors to work goes hand in hand with the philosophy that it should be more difficult for households to receive SNAP benefits by including 16 y/o - 18 y/o among those who should be seeking employment. https://www.billtrack50.com/blog/the-persistent-issue-of-child-labor-in-2024/
HB 500 was recommitted and so will be very difficult to pass this session. Although they could revive both these bills during days set aside to override Governor Vetoes - which means it would be too late for the governor to veto them. Besides there is a veto proof legislature.
https://kypolicy.org/house-bill-500-takes-away-kentucky-workers-lunch-and-rest-breaks-and-cuts-their-pay/#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20HB%20500%3A,be%20eliminated%20under%20HB%20500.
Which conservatives and/or Christians are pushing the idea that women shouldn't be voting?
- Pastor Joel Webbon who says things like “Because if we had a Christian nation tomorrow, and women did have the right to vote, we would not have a Christian nation within 50 years.” He further explains “Uh, because the husband has been appointed by God the head of his home. And no-fault divorce, and women suffrage, more than anything else, ultimately split the household.”
- The Baptist News has written about him and those views. https://baptistnews.com/article/why-these-christian-men-believe-women-shouldnt-have-the-right-to-vote/
- Mark Robinson, Lt. Governor of NC. He is the GOP gubernatorial candidate. While running for Lt Gov he said in 2020: “I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote.”
- We could add Nick Fuentes who dined at Mar a Lago not long after the 2020 election. Shortly before that he had streamed his plan for a christian America, getting DJT in the WH “somehow” dissolving Congress, using the military to control the majority who don’t want to comply. A key component he described was lwomen marrying early, no contraception, no education & no voting - “a sort of Catholic taliban” situation.
And now I have other things to do more interesting perhaps more important that betting aside your non-denial denials of the real world.
I'm not sure what you mean about "non-denial denials of the real world".
These are interesting examples, but not representative in my experience. Most people I know who consider themselves Christians fully support women's rights, as it aligns with dignity and family values. You can always find a few outliers though.
Do you personally know a lot of people who actually support those
(anti women) views like the examples you provided?
BTW - it's ok if you choose not to respond.
According to this article, see link below, there are many, many couples waiting to adopt (estimated 2 Million couples). As many as 36 for each child up for adoption!
How did you know that none of the 2 Million couples were Republicans???
https://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families
I agree. Can you imagine if we tried to control their viagra?
But men are just as angry about the interference in medical procedures as the women are. Most American men are just as responsible as we women are.
They are. The problem is with men in power!
Most men, like most women, like most people want to do the right thing. They take matters of life and death seriously. The state does not have the right to make personal decisions. We've leaned over backward to accommodate the right-wing/Trump/MAGA and it's past time to stop.
How have liberals accommodated conservatives on the subject of abortion?
RIGHT ON ‼️‼️‼️
To that I will partially agree, Biden is the man in power now and he is entirely pro-choice. I am not so much pro-choice as against interference in a purely medical procedure. I will agree that assholes like DeSantis, Trump and those Republican Legislators and Governors writing and approving anti abortion laws are ignoramuses, women haters, power mongers, and plain bad people
Bad and cruel. Cruelty reigns in MAGA world and that is the point. They are vindictive. The fact that they mask their vindictive hatefulness in the cloth of Christianity sickens me.
Amen!
What is the cruelty you speak of?
Ask the women who have almost died because doctors are afraid to provide the necessary care. Pretty sure that classifies as cruel!
Most of the people getting in the way are Conservative Christians whose goal it is to control women. Period. That's what they think the Bible says but, it doesn't, and it's a choice based on the little weasels wanting all the power for themselves. By that, I mean cisgender (at least, that's what they would have us believe) white men. No one should control another person's access to healthcare or make healthcare decisions for them. We know it's not just abortion since many of these people would also like to abolish birth control. The only way to change things is to vote them out of power. And, of course, you're correct about the Biden administration, in general, and Biden, personally. He objects to abortion for religious and personal reasons, but will not interfere in the decisions women make about their own healthcare. As it should be.
Southern Baptists still will not ordain women. That's why Jimmy Carter quit that mysogynist denomination.
And the newly formed
Global Methodists do not allow LGBTQ people in leadership. Worship is worship -it doe not matter who leads the service.
They the ones who want to control females should be neutered or mandatory vasectomies
What ever happened To separation of Church and State?
That's only in the US Constitution, not the MAGA playbook which has no connection to the Constitution.
Agreed.
If women vote , many for the first time, MAGA is finished forever.
Let's hope!
Election day will determine the fate of America for at least one full generation. Right now America is at a the junction of two paths in a dark forest. A choice will be made in November. This is certain. I am certain Trump is finished. He is aging, has dementia, offers nothing but negativity in a country built on a positive and hopeful philosophy. His time is short. The Republican Party is the present day cancer in America. It must be chastised deeply at the polls. The world is deeply uncertain about America's resolve to remain a trustworthy ally. Putin is far too confident, as is Iran, North Korea and China. This must change soon.
Hopefully this will turn our congress blue and keep biden in office. If the young people in my family are like others, then abortion is a big deal to them and they plan to vote accordingly
I’m going to have to pause and come back to this… it’s elevating my blood pressure. I’m very hopeful that this issue will indeed continue to work for progressives. I’ll absolutely be voting pro choice in Missouri. 💙
I'm a fellow Missourian and I will be voting pro choice also!
It must be hard to be in a Red State just now. Missouri is a beautiful state and to see it taken over by haters must be so hard. If you ever need encouragement, please check out Seniors Taking Action.org. We would welcome you.
You're right, Susan. Here in Cleveland, I live in a blue bubble, surrounded by miles of rural redness. I signed a petition against Arctic drilling, and it went to both senators. Vance responded to assure me that he will ALWAYS vote for more drilling, because it's the best thing for the country(!). Such stupidity is just depressing.
As for reproductive choice, our governor had signed a six-week abortion ban (which was temporarily stayed), and our secretary of state tried to prevent a referendum from getting onto the ballot. When he failed, he had the ballot language written so as to be confusing. The GOP ran ads painting abortion as somehow taking away parental rights. Well...surprise! The right to choose passed, two to one, and is now part of our state constitution.
All this to say that there's hope, even in red states, no matter how backward and, well, ignorant, the MEN in charge are
I don’t know about the rest of you but I am really tired of a bunch of old men with white/orange hair deciding what we can do with our bodies. It is none of their business!! They call themselves pro life but they are quite happy to let someone with mental health issues own a gun. And while I’m at it, I don’t notice any of them stepping up to provide funding for the healthcare for these women or their children. Nor do I hear them offering to adopt the babies. The whole thing disgusts me. VOTE BLUE!!
They are not so much pro-life as pro-birth. 😡
Anti-women guises as Christianity, and so anti-anything Christ-like
They force women to give birth but, once the kid is here, you’re on your own.
~paraphrasing Carlin
They also know very little about women's reproductive systems and health. It should NOT be up to politicians to make the decisions about women's bodies and lives.
Trump will have a PERFECT statement on abortion just as soon as Infrastructure Week is done.
I submit that this will be the defining issue in this election all across the country. How about each of us helping to organize a March To Protect Reproductive Rights to and in every State Capital city ON LABOR DAY! The symbolism of that day would be dynamic. Ask your local PP and other reproductive rights organizations to organize it? What do you think?
Personally I’d prefer the time, effort and money go to registering voters and get out the vote projects - a much more strategic use of resources and people.
The votes are what matters.
You could have tables and booths set up to help register voters along the march. Rest stops, with cold water, hot coffee, and voting rights groups. Informing and helping others, the way that I find works best.
Let’s make it happen? This group of Substack friends can start it going? Thank you
Ira, I am Canadian but will happily send this to my American friends and cousins. Every voice counts.
“Labor Day…”
Yes. Brilliant!!!
From this moment forward, I will celebrate that day, every year, for WOMEN!!
Can’t wait to buy the shirt celebrating women choosing labor!
What a wonderful idea!
There is no "perfect statement" on abortion. It is a difficult and messy choice. Trump and Co. don't understand nuance, but they do understand advertising and sound bites. Abortion is not a soundbite. It is a painful, difficult, and often responsible and reasonable choice. Extremists do not understand this but women and men do. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
You missed the sarcasm. Trump constantly refers to any clearly wrong thing that he's done (e.g. the extortion call to Zelenskyy) as "PERFECT".
And, don't forget his Healthcatr plan
Thank you, Dan. Great essay.
Another way to describe the entire situation— Be careful what you wish for— lest it come true. Let’s not also forget, 45th is a pathological liar. He will say and do anything to get elected and get rid of his legal troubles.
He has no interest in improving the lives of the American people.
He was also to bring a first class health care system- very inexpensive. What happened?
He was to build a wall, too- what happened? Journalists should ask him these questions. He is just good at dividing people and creating ruckus.
My two cents- Dan
Thank you
He is a despicable human being and were he not a useful idiot he would have been dumped by his sponsors a long time ago. I'm fed up with being bullied. Women and men who don't want to be bullied need to stand up and fight. This is wrong and we need to right it.
sto·chas·tic
/stəˈkastik/
adjectivetechnical
adjective: stochastic
randomly determined; having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
Origin
mid 17th century: from Greek stokhastikos, from stokhazesthai ‘aim at, guess’, from stokhos ‘aim’.
The Orange Cow-pie has popularized a new usage of the term; stochastic bullying. He has fostered an atmosphere where individuals whom he has never met are now frankly fearful of becoming individually associated with their legitimate but contrasting opinion on issues like reproductive liberty because one of his minions might be able to track them down for harrassment or worse, merely from their blog byline and the subject matter. It harkens back to East Germany, where EVERYONE was a spy for the regime. It creates an atmosphere of constant dread and great caution about how or whether one should speak out at all.
I think you make a great point here, Just Sayin'. I was just on another forum where someone kept maintaining, against all arguments, that there's no urgent reason jurors' names should be withheld from TFG (as Judge Merchan has threatened), because the chances that the orange menace or his minions would actually go after anyone are zero. Nah, they'd never hurt anybody.
Meanwhile, as you say, many of us guard what we say where we can be overheard, just in case.
Interesting. I usually see or hear it used these days in the description of a certain kind of terrorism.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/what-is-stochastic-terrorism/
Only correction, nothing human about him or humane about him. Couldn’t have said better.
Excellent commentary Dan. I think that your last paragraph is the most important one - it is not just an abortion/anti-abortion issue, but a woman's right of choice/anti-choice that is at stake here. When a woman loses the right to make a decision about an outcome based on what is happening to her own body, with or without input from family and medical practitioners, then what is her status as a full blown citizen of this country? When a just formed zygote is more important to a living, breathing female, what becomes of that female. These ultra right extreme MAGA Republican lawmakers and judges, mostly males, are making the female population of this nation second class citizens. And their sights are now being set to stop the contraception that almost all women use to prevent pregnancy. This is not to be condoned nor accepted.
Absolutely 100%
Do you honestly think Trump actually cares about abortion one way or the other? I don’t. He’s just using it as an issue to get the far right and Evangelical vote along with his “Bible” ! He’s as low as they come. All this talk is a phoney as they come. His hateful rhetoric about imigrants is pretty rich too when you consider his Trump grandfather, the last name wasn’t exactly Trump either. His Grandfather went AWOL from the German army and came here then tried to go back but he lost his German citizenship because of going AWOL! He went to Alaska when it was a territory and ran Brothels aka Whore Houses. He apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree. He is no great Statesman and never will be. He’s unfit for office and it’s pathetic that the Republican Party has stupped so low.
Donnie doesn’t care about much. He did have enough sense to know he couldn’t run as a Dem.
So two Muslim countries are bringing back stoning women and another one is back to mutilation of female genitals. Guess that is the next crusade here in the good USA. Just like the Bible say, beat your slaves as much as you want but make sure then don't die since they are property.
That is what religious zealots want. Let's not let them have it.
Ugh. Sobering, horrifying truths.
As much as I would like to say, I cannot wait for this whole thing to blow up in their smug Marjorie Taylor Green faces, but, there's that undercurrent, of , well, we all went through it with Hillary and the 2016 results… abortion just might be that catalyst Dems need at the polls in November, but I’m still abit edgy… Dems and voters can be wishywashy and with all that is on the line, there is no place for wishywashy, Biden has to win…and win the house back and keep the Senate!… And Dan, you’ve gotta continue to run this tight , steady ship… we need you too as well… so thankful for your Steadyiness! … 🙏🏼🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🛳️
This is no time for wishy-washy. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a shy child, built herself up by saying, " Do one thing that frightens you every day." We can all do this. For me, it was driving through a rainstorm on a particularly lethal strip of California highway known for collisions, on a rainy Friday afternoon. I focussed on the road ahead and not the accidents on the side of the road and made it home safely. It felt really good.
I am female and, although past reproductive age, I always thought of myself as a full human and a full citizen of this country. Until now. Are women full citizens? Not if the government controls our bodies. Are we full humans? Not if we are considered broodmares, and if a zygote is considered to have more rights that the "vessel" carrying it. I will not have someone else's religious beliefs determine my life.
As a Florida voter to get abortion on the ballot is huge and then add the legalization of recreational marijuana come November this state will not be purple, it will be solid blue. The kids will save this state!
Yes it is big, but FL purple? Not Pasco. Red all the way. Trumpers here. I don't dare put out a Biden sign.
You don't necessarily need to put out a sign but do connect digitally with other like-minded people and groups. There is a digital underground pro-democracy railroad out there to help you. Check out NOVA Power Lunch on Fridays at noon EST to get a helpful shot in the arm. I do and it helps soooo much.
I'm tempted to order up a set of "Trump for Emperor" and "Trump for Dictator" signs and pepper my neighborhood full of them
So glad I subscribed to your content, Dan! You explain the issues of the day factually, clearly and succinctly. Good Lord, I've missed good journalism! I sure hope young people are paying attention...
I'm 75, and abortion rights remains one of my top issues because I remember my fear, even when married, of an unplanned pregnancy (and ALL birth-control methods are less than 100% effective) and my inability to be in charge of my own life. I want the sense of relief I felt when in 1973 the Supreme Court decided that abortion is a private decision, not a governmental one, to be permanent for all women of child-bearing age, never mind for a raped 10-year-old child forced to carry the rapist's embryo to term.
It has taken me forty years to share this. Forty years ago January our second child was born on her due date. A beautiful infant who couldn't function and who died twenty-one months and ten days later. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "organic brain syndrome." She could not see, could not hear, cry, feed herself, and had no voluntary movement. She had to have medication to control her seizures. As her very compassionate pediatrician put it, "It was as though she had suffered a stroke in utero." A brain scan later revealed that sometime during gestation, water had filled in where her brain should have been, leaving her only with a healthy body and a brain stem. She died on Halloween, "a holiday favored more greatly by children than Christmas", as a family friend wrote.
Forward forty years to December of 2023. My middle daughter became pregnant with her second child. A second sonogram indicated problems with what had been a normal fetus. Subsequent tests revealed the fetus suffered from Trisomy 18, the same condition Kate Cox's fetus suffered from--a condition incompatible with life. Fortunately, my daughter, who lives in Montana, had the help of a highly skilled and compassionate medical team including a therapist. Working together with my daughter and son-in-law, they decided to terminate the pregnancy. There is a mortuary across from the clinic that handles the remains gratis.
My daughter and her husband scattered the baby's ashes on the beautiful Black Foot River. I tended to my granddaughter on the day of the abortion and the day her parents scattered the ashes of the sibling who could not be. The day after the abortion, the doorbell rang. No handcuffs. No subpoenas. What was delivered instead was the most tender bouquet of tulips and wildflowers I have ever seen. Now that is compassion. That is dignity. That is the way life and death should be.
Had I known before my second daughter was born what she and we, her family, would have to suffer along with her, I would have chosen to abort her. It would have been immoral not to do so.
Very poignant and powerful comment…. Thank you for telling your story and reflection, Susan.
There is so much of pain and suffering in this world. Instead of alleviating the pain and suffering of the people, we have the Congress living on a different planet, least concerned about people who sent them there.
We have the power
Vote the rascals out
I can only imagine what you went through, Susan. It hurts to even think about it---too utterly sad for words. Your daughter's experience was also sad, but I see it as a gift that she was spared what you suffered. If anyone can speak with authority on this topic, it's you.
💔❤️🩹
The idea that legislatures know better what’s best for We the People than We the People do is laughable. No, it’s not funny laughable. it’s a serious problem.
One of South Dakota’s state legislators made a specific point ( at a local legislative Cracker Barrel discussion) that we are not a democracy, we are a republic. She, being a Republican, was rather obviously setting the stats for more crazy MAGA mischief.
The first Republican president, when asked what was democracy, replied “a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”
Well, truth be told, we ARE a republic. Or more precisely, a democratic republic. We do vote for representatives (voting = drmocracy), who are supposed to champion the will of those they represent. But our electoral college prevents us from being a straight democracy, where one vote - one person, majority rules would be the way of things. If we were a pure democracy, the elected person would be the one with the most popular votes, NOT the one with the most electoral college vites.
I agree with you totally! We are a democratic republic. Power vested in We the People, We the People elect other citizens to do our business, and they do business for the people. A republic on its own can be something not democratic - or power is not vested in the people. People’s Republic of China for example. No power vested in the people - CCP has the power.